I had invulnerables too, never had a flat! SS mesh under the tread did the trick! I worked at a shop 88-90, and had much of this stuff at my disposal. I glued them to my trusty GP 4's. The 330's were for racing, and the 280's were for climbing.
I've always been too heavy for f & rr 280s. So I stuck with 330s. (still have a 12" stack of tubular rims in the garage for when I move back to where there's a track!) Mmmmmmmm Superbe Pro! Too bad they didn't get indexing. M
It's too bad Suntour couldn't compete. Even the Sprint 9000 was good stuff for the time. XC Pro rocked, Surpebe Pro was awesome. Comparing second string Campy groups of the day (Victory & Trimpohe) to the Sprint 9000 was a no brainer. I'd like to find a Surpebe Pro group & hang on to it.
I still have my very beat up 1975 Motobecane Grand Record (the top line touring version, I'd ridden and sold a English racing frame as being too short and stiff for long distance riding) which got upgraded to all Campi Nuevo Record, Super Champion blue label rims, etc. 24" frame size (unusual, most bikes were 23 or 25), Reynolds 531 double butted lugged cro-moly, still has the original Phillips(?) bars, but I wore out and got rid of the Brooks Pro saddle a long time ago when Avocet came out with the first modern saddles (and wore out 2-3 of those too). sometime in the early 80s, I rebuilt the wheels for 700c clinchers after clemente silk sew-ups got real expensive... Used to ride centuries, and do bike-packing on that beast. (spitting image of my Motobecane when it was new) now, the one *I* really miss was a Raleigh Pro Mark II. gorgeous frame, my friend had sold me as it was a hair too big for him (and perfect for me). I'd built it up wth he parts from my motobecane, and upgraded everything back to the full campi that the Raleigh had been originally (he'd stripped the parts to put on a custom frame he'd replaced it with). That Raleigh frame rode so sweet, the size was perfect for me, but then I tail ended a car at speed and bent it rather badly (( so all the parts went back on the Motobecane, which really wasn't that bad, it handled better with panniers (a little bit longer wheel base, more relaxed fork rake). (not mine, just a random pic off the net, but thats what color the Mk II was)
I have a triplet of Campy Omega XL clinchers I'm gonna lace into a pair of NOS Mavic 571/2 hubs Similar to these: Laced into: Gonna be a Niiiiiice riding wheelset! The Omega XLs are most similar to Mavic's MA40, just a little wider and a little shallower. Mmmmmm comfy! M
The more effort you are putting into braking, the less effort you can put into steering/ bunny hopping the bike. i cold lock the wheels up on my 1988 Schwinn with U-brakes but the brakes were so weak that at the end of a down hill I would start to get arm pump. When I had arm pump it would be harder to control the bike. Now if I only have to use one finger to control the speed of the bike, I have a lot more energy left over to throw the bike into corners and hop logs with. Old cars and motorcycles could lock up the wheels with drum brakes, but why do they all have discs now?
OK, that makes sense about having more control/less arm pump. As for drum V disk brakes on cars, one word: Heat
That's actually an issue on bicycle brakes, too. An extended downhill with rim brakes can get the rims hot enough to blow a tire. And downhilling MTBers often deal with brake fade even with discs.
For what style bike? Mtn? Hydro discs are hard to beat. Vs (linears) if you're a weight-weenie or riding a lightweight singlespeed. Road? Normal calipers work fine. 'Cross? Cantis. Calipers don't have enough mud clearance. Vs don't work well with brifters (wrong cable pull). And discs aren't euro enough - none of us are ever going to beat Jonathan Page or Niels Albert - best we can do is look good trying.
I had those rims built up on a set of original Chorus hubs: the rims were nice and wide, had a nice ride, but were soft and did not last long at all. The rear lasted maybe a few thousand miles before it self destructed. Pro built, I might add. Also, those Mavic cassette hubs put quite a bit of dish in the wheel, the left flange is way far over, more than the same era Campy and way more than Dura Ace. Might be a pretty set of wheels, but not for long. I love the old stuff, btw, not dissing your choices, just some input on stuff I have experience with.
No worries. They self-destruct, I'll relace some other rims on to the hubs. I have some Reflex Ceramics on a pair of 571/2s now... They stay round and true, so I'm hoping the Campy rims do too. I rode a pair of these on a buddy's bike 'way back when' and liked the way they rode, so I tracked em down. Worst case, I make em into a 'Sunday ride the classic steel bike' set of wheels. M
Looks familiar... anywhere near Mt Coot-tha by any chance? I used to live in Toowong and would ride many of the trails in the network of park lands all around there.
